Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government banned the production, storage, distribution and sale of food items with “halal certification” in the state Saturday, except for products meant for export.
The announcement comes after the Lucknow police booked three Muslim outfits and a company for allegedly issuing illegal halal certificates and promoting enmity between different groups.
The FIR, a copy of which is with ThePrint, was lodged at the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow on a complaint from a resident, Shailendra Kumar Sharma, against Halala India Private Limited, Chennai; Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind Halal Trust, Delhi; Halala Council of India, Mumbai; Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra, and others.
A statement issued by the UP government Saturday said that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the apex body for food items, has the authority to set the standards of food items, which ensure their quality.
In a notification issued Saturday, Anita Singh, commissioner, Food Safety and Drug Administration department, said that “halal certification is a parallel arrangement that creates a situation of doubt on the subject of quality of a food item” and is “absolutely against the basic intention of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.”
The notification added that the halal certification of food products is not maintainable under section 89 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. ThePrint has a copy of the notification.
Section 89 says the act’s provisions will override any other law that is inconsistent with it.
The notification also said that such an arrangement (halal certification) falls under the definition of misbranding under Section 3 (1) (zf) (A) (i) of the Act, which is a punishable offence under Section 52 of the Act.
“Using the powers under Section 30 (2) (a) of the act and in view of public health, the production, storage, distribution and sale of food items with halal certification is being banned with immediate effect, except for the products meant for exports,” the notification added.
Meanwhile, issuing a statement late Friday, the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind Halal Trust said that it would “take necessary legal measures to counter misinformation” in response to “baseless allegations aimed at tarnishing our image”.
“We adhere to government regulations, as emphasised in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry notification, requiring all Halal Certification bodies to be registered by NABCB (National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies under Quality Council of India), a milestone that Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind Halal Trust has achieved,” it added
#Clarification on #HalalCertification
New Delhi November 18, 2023
In light of recent misleading information circulating through various media outlets and an FIR lodged in Hazratgunj, Lucknow, regarding Halal Products and Certification services, Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind Halal Trust,… pic.twitter.com/Lnzvai8rN1
— Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (@JamiatUlama_in) November 18, 2023
Also Read: No written order but UP Police has shut Muslim restaurants in Sambhal for Kanwar Yatra
What the FIR says
The FIR quotes the complainant, Sharma, as saying that the companies are issuing halal certificates to different companies for monetary benefits based on forged affidavits, resorting to fraud with the common public.
The complaint refers to “unknown production companies and their owners and managers,” “all people resorting to conspiracy against the nation,” “notified terror outfits and other people funding anti-national activities and organisations” and “other people conspiring riots on a wide scale by playing with public sentiments.”
It alleges that these companies were attempting to influence a particular religious community inappropriately for the production of such products (that take the certification) and to reduce the production of firms that have not taken the certificate from them.
“This is a criminal act, and I suspect these inappropriate benefits are being extended to anti-social and anti-national elements. In this way, a criminal conspiracy is underway against a particular community and its products,” reads the FIR citing Sharma.
The complaint says that halal certification was being given even for vegetarian products such as cosmetics, including oil, soap, toothpaste honey, etc, even when they don’t require such certification.
“Unrestrained publicity is being done amid a particular group that it shouldn’t use a product which doesn’t have the certification being provided by their company,” the FIR says.
The FIR was filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 120-b (criminal conspiracy), 153-a (promoting enmity between different groups), 298 (uttering words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings), 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of a valuable security or will), 468 (forgery, intending that the forged document or electronic record be used for the purpose of cheating), 471 (fraudulently or dishonestly using as genuine a forged document) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief).
Govt stand on halal certification on medicines and more
In its statement, the UP government said that it has received information that products such as dairy items, sugar, bakery products, peppermint oil, salty ready-to-eat beverages, and edible oils are being labelled with halal certification.
Some medicines, medical devices, and cosmetic products also have a halal certificate on their packaging or labelling, it added.
“However, there are no provisions for marking halal certification on labels in the government rules related to drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics, nor is there any mention of halal certification in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and its related rules,” it said.
“Any direct or indirect mention of halal certification on the labels of medicines, medical devices, or cosmetics constitutes falsification under the said Act, making it a punishable offence,” it added.
According to the statement, the FIR in this regard was registered in Lucknow Commissionerate Friday.
“According to the filed FIR, entities, such as Halal India Private Limited Chennai, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust Delhi, Halal Council of India Mumbai, Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra, and others exploited religious sentiments to boost sales by providing halal certificates to customers of a specific religion,” it added.
Stating that illegal businesses were being run for financial gain, the statement added that the complainant has “raised concerns over a potential large-scale conspiracy, indicating attempts to decrease the sales of products from companies lacking the halal certificate, which is illegal.”
The statement said that there was apprehension that this unfair advantage was being passed on to anti-social/anti-national elements.
The statement mentioned that the complainant further alleged that, “under the guise of religion, unrestrained propaganda is being disseminated within a particular section of society to discourage the use of products lacking a halal certificate. This, in turn, harms the business interests of other communities.”
The government added that such a “malicious attempt not only seeks unfair financial benefits by issuing halal certificates for items meant for common citizens, but also forms part of a pre-planned strategy to sow class hatred, create divisions in society, and weaken the country.”
What is halal and who can issue certifications
The Arabic term halal comes from the Quran and means “permitted” or “lawful” as opposed to haram (unlawful/ not permitted).”. “Halal meat” is the meat obtained from animals that are slaughtered according to Islamic rules.
A halal certificate shows that a product is allowed under Islamic law and is fit for consumption by Muslims. A halal certificate is a document that is usually issued for food, food-related, pharmaceuticals and other personal care products, and is essential in Islamic countries.
In India, there is no government regulation for halal certification, but private organisations that are accredited by the importing countries issue halal certificates.
Earlier this year, the commerce ministry had issued a draft guideline on halal certification, which said that the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority would be the overall monitoring agency for this purpose.
“All meat and meat products to be exported as ‘halal certified’ only if it is produced, processed and packed under a valid certificate issued by a certification body duly accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB), Quality Council of India,” the guidelines added.
Last year, some Right-wing groups in Karnataka called for a boycott of halal meat products during Varshadodaku or Hosa Todaku, the day after Ugadi, when many communities in the state have a non-vegetarian feast.
BJP national general secretary C.T. Ravi called halal meat products an “economic jihad” and said that if Muslims do not buy non-halal meat from Hindus, “why should you insist that Hindus must buy from them?”
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
Also Read: ‘Rotis, not chicken’ — In UP, Muslim man’s family lament his fate, say ‘we’re feeling terrorised’